Potato & Bacon Frittata
Frittatas are and Italian staple. We eat this dish a lot. It’s perfect during lent (no meat of course), and for a quick lunch or dinner. Italians eat this hot, room temperature or even cold. I have fond memories of my summers in Italy. We would have to take a long car trip to see my Nonno and Nonna when we arrived in Italy, and then back again to get home. A lot of the time we packed sandwiches. By sandwiches, I mean a piece of frittata on focaccia. Yep. Not too shabby of a snack.
Growing up my Mom made it often. She generally stuck to just simple eggs and cheese. We always enjoyed it as a quick lunch. But a frittata holds so much potential. They can be made with a vast array of ingredients. I have seen them simple with spinach and cheese to tasty and beautiful with zucchini flowers. Italians will not turn this into and excuse to use up all the ingredients in the fridge, but a few simple ingredients are always welcome. There must always be cheese. We always had it with Parmesan cheese, so that’s how I make it. Over the years I have experimented with lots of different flavors, but I truly love this combination. It is a mixture of thinly sliced potatoes, finely chopped onions, and bacon. What’s not to love? The trick here is to keep things thin and small. I slice the potatoes really thin. If you have a mandoline, that will be helpful. I have a slicing side on my box grater that I use. If you don’t have either just use a knife and cut as thin as possible. The onions get chopped small. I use real bacon bits which are already pretty small, so they are perfect for this dish. The onions get caramelized, and the bacon gets crispy and the potatoes are perfectly cooked.
Usually, at least from what I’ve read and seen on cooking shows, the frittata gets baked after starting on the stove top. I guess these people never met my Mom (or any of my Italian family for that matter). The frittata never went into the oven. My Mom did the flip and slip. After starting on the stove top, my Mom would take a large dish, place it over the pan and flip the frittata onto the plate.Then she would immediately slide it back into the pan to finish cooking. I was always intimidated by the flip and slip. But practice makes perfect, and I finally have mastered this one. If you are a little intimidated by this maneuver, just pop that oven safe pan into the oven at 400 degrees for at 10- 15 minutes until the top of your frittata has browned nicely.
Potato & Bacon Frittata
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons real crumbled bacon bits
- 1 medium potato sliced thin
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Chop onion. In a 10 inch saute pan heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add bacon and onion. Saute for 3 minutes.
- Peel and thinly slice potato and add it to the pan. Toss and saute for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, In a medium bowl add eggs, cheese, salt &pepper.
- Mix the eggs with a fork.
- Arrange the potato in a thin layer on the bottom of the pan.
- Slowly pour the egg mixture over the potatoes. Be sure to cover all the potatoes.
- Drop the heat to medium low and cook undisturbed for 10 minutes. You can cover the pan to speed up the process.
- When the eggs are just about set, turn off the heat. Place a large dish over the pan and quickly flip the frittata into the dish.
- Immediately slide the frittata out of the dish, back into the pan.
- Turn the heat back on to medium low. Finish cooking for about 3-5 minutes. Slide the frittata onto a serving dish. Top with fresh parsley if desired.
- Slice into wedges and serve.
